A great test of running speed and endurance the Cooper Test is a 12 minute run (walk or crawl) for as far as you can.  A challenge on the cardiovascular system and your endurance at high speed.  A great way to improve your faster pace runs over middle distances and a quick way to determine your improvements in speed and stamina for running. 

Can't be so bad U.S. Marines use this test to assess their recruits!

5 Rounds for Time

50 Jump Rope
40 Mountain Climber
30 Squat
20 Press Up
10 Pull Up

Work on mobility before your workout and prepare for movements ahead.  Cool down with some light exercise and stretch off to finish your workout.

5 Rounds for time

10 Kettlebell (KB) Clean and Press (each arm)
10 KB Swing
Farmer carry KB 200m

Warm up and cool down with body weight circuits mobility work and stretches.  There as important as the workout itself!

High intensity exercises get great results, FACT.  There is no need to be in the gym for hours on end.

Warm up and work on specific mobility drills to improve your efficiency in the exercise your about to complete.  Choose two whole body compound exercises and hit them hard every two minutes for ten minutes.

Here's an example
10 Clean and Press (heavy)
20 Burpees

Use the time after completing both sets to recover before the next 2 minute interval begins.

Cool down with some light exercise and stretch off thoroughly.

Metabolic conditioning is a great way to increase your work capacity and burn fat as the workouts are high intensity and challenge most energy pathways.  Here's a circuit from this mornings Boot Camp session.

5 Rounds for Time
10 Kettlebell (KB) Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
10 KB Push Press
10 KB Swing
Sprint a lap of the pond (270m)

Choose a kettlebell weight that you can hold good form throughout the movement with and that challenges your strength.

You can make pretty much any workout a fitness test by establishing movements that can be standardised so they can be repeated time a time again without altering the movement.  For example the basic pull up test that the armed services use is a simple as, as many pull ups in 2 minutes.  The pull ups must start with a hanging straight arm and the end position is chin above the bar without kipping. 

A great cardiovascular endurance test is The Bleep Test.  A 20m shuttle run measure in time to a preset bleep.  You just have to keep up with the bleep as you run from end to end of the 20m distance.  You can even get this test as an iPhone app.  Measure it out and see how far you get, level 10 is the standard to get you through basic training in the Army.

To improve your fitness you must test it and retest to mark improvements or losses.  You can then adjust your training goals to target specific areas of your fitness to balance it out.

With winter fast approaching it's time to think about snow sports training to get the most from your alpine holidays.  Primarily build strength through your core and increase work capacity in your lower body.  Your trunk needs stability while hips and legs provide the ride.  Here's a great little circuit that works the lower body and core.

Complete 5 Rounds for Time

Leg Blaster Complex (halve the numbers for a mini version)
20 Squats
20 Lunges
20 Lunge Jumps
10 Squat Jumps

Plank 60sec recovery

During your warm up the aim is to prepare your body for the task its about to complete.  So with this in mind work through and mobilise the major movements your about to training.  Aim to improve posture, good start and finish positions for all lifts or exercises and slowly increase the intensity.  Your warm up is a great time to work through technique at low intensity before you ramp it up.

After your workout slowly reduce the intensity and work on your flexibility by stretching out to increase muscle length and reduce tension throughout your soft tissues and joints. 

Mobilising and stretching regularly will slowly improve but mechanics, consistency and lastly intensity is key.  Even if your not training today you can still mobilise and stretch as good habit to help prevent injury and improve performance.

21, 15, 9 reps for time.
left arm kettlebell snatch
right arm kettlebell snatch
pull up

Todays workout is something simple.

Warm up example (10 of each controlled movements for 3 sets),

• Overhead Squat
  
• Samson Stretch (Overhead Lunge)
• Side Lunge
• Sit up
• Poor Man Leg Curl (Bridge)
  

Welcome to the start of my new Blog.  Many of my clients have been asking what they should be doing on days that they don't train with me or when they or I'm away on holiday, so here goes.  I'm off to the USA for a few weeks and I'll try to update the Blog with workouts and ideas for mobility and flexibility work, as well as advice on nutrition.

Here is a short Metabolic Conditioning (Met Con) workout to get you started.

Always warm up and work on mobility exercises before the workout.

As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) 10 minutes
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Kettlebell Clean and Press
10 Box Jumps
10 Pull Ups

N.B. Choose kettlebell weights according to your ability to hold good form and proper technique and scale the movements to your skill level.  Jump within your height range and try horizontal pull ups if you can't manage full pull ups.

Always cool down with light movements and flexibility exercises after your workout.
Until next time.
3, 2, 1, GO!